The Payton Award is presented annually to the nation's most outstanding player in NCAA Division I FCS.

Appalachian State is one of only two schools with multiple representatives on the 20-player Payton watch list (Eastern Illinois being the other). Londry-Jackson and Price are two of three Southern Conference representatives on the list (Georgia Southern quarterback Jerick McKinnon being the other).

Londry-Jackson was a finalist for the 2012 Payton Award, finishing 14th in balloting for the 26th installment of the award. He led the SoCon and ranked seventh nationally last season in both passing yards (3,278) and total offense (3,606 yards). The 3,278 passing yards were just 13 yards shy of the school record of 3,291 set by Armanti Edwards in 2009, when he became the only two-time winner of the Payton Award.

In just 10 games last season, Price set NCAA Division I FCS freshman records with 81 receptions and 1,196 receiving yards, shattering the previous records of 71 receptions (set by Cal State Northridge's Drew Amerson in 1999) and 1,073 yards (set by Marshall's Randy Moss in 1996). He was the 2012 SoCon Freshman of the Year, a first-team all-conference and all-America honoree, placed third in balloting for the Jerry Rice Award (The Sports Network's National Freshman of the Year) and was named College Sports Journal's national co-Freshman of the Year.

Appalachian State has had at least one finalist for the Payton Award each of the last nine seasons. Edwards claimed the honor in 2008 and '09 and remains the only two-time winner in the 26-year history of the award. This season is the last chance for a Mountaineer to claim the school's third Payton Award, as Appalachian State has accepted an invitation to join the Sun Belt and NCAA Division I FBS on July 1, 2014.

The 27th-annual Payton Award will be presented on Dec. 16, 2013 in Philadelphia.